VIII
by SharleaNorth
Summary: I struggled to hold on to the person I had been. To tell someone that the person they once were doesn’t exist, that they are only part of that person, is easy. But there was no way I was going to believe them. An Axel Story
1. Chapter 1

Okay guys a few things before you begin. 1) Hi. Thanks for reading. I'm really excited about this story. I've had plans to write it for sometime and 358/2 gave me the perfect set up to write it. 2) I know most of my stories tend to stray from actuality of the games. As in, you probably wouldn't find the characters in situations that my stories put them in, but this one's going to be different! I'm going to keep this as factually true as I possibly can! 3) Because of how real I want this story to seem, I'm going to probably go back and explain the obvious. I know you know about Heartless and Nobodies and all that jazz, but Axel doesn't. So you get to relearn. I'm hoping to put a different spin on it so you won't lose interest, but please bear with me. 4) This is probably my first legitimate story. I'm hoping it to be lots of chapters long and cover from the time Axel enters the Organization until Roxas does. I have a problem writing long term stories, but I'm going to give it my all. I'm sorry if some chapters start to sag and lose interest. If you stick with it, so will I! 5) I know I beg for reviews a lot, but it really does help me keep interest in a story. Even if you're just reviewing to say "Good job" or something a bit more derogatory it'll keep me writing. 6) Though I am going to try and keep it super believable, I'm sure there is going to be times where characters get out of character and events don't flow the way they should. Please just go with it. I'm trying to work in a time span that Square Enix just keeps filling up with events and other characters.

PLEASE READ FOR SOME STORY BACKGROUND! I found a description of what Lea looks like and will base him off of this description. (Maybe Spoiler: he's supposed to make an appearance in Birth By Sleep talking to Ven.) Anyway, I'm writing some of this off of rumors for BBS. Since the game probably won't be out for awhile and it'll take my even longer to beat it, all I have are the rumors. BBS is also how I'm basing some of Axel's personality. Lea's rumored to be around 16 in BSS and the original KH takes place ten years later. Xehanort's heartless was created about the same time, which means so was Xemnas. So, to give you an idea and to be able to best write Axel, I'm going to saw that Lea died at 19. That would give the Organization time to form and start recruiting. I'm wanting to present some what of a teenage rebellious nature at some point (No story spoilers ^.^). I think that'll be a good age for both my story and the actual games to work together. This will put Axel's joining the Organization about 7 years before Sora gets his keyblade and give me ample amount of time to write in and bring in the other members. Yay!

Sorry there was so much stuff at the beginning, but I had a lot of stuff to let you guys know before I threw this thing at you. I plan on doing something along these lines before every chapters, but shorter, to help you guys get some background.

Oh and I'm using the Kingdom Hearts Wiki to check stuff. Let me know if you see something in my writing that doesn't make sense to the games.

Disclaimer: I do now own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

We watched him make the familiar walk across the embalmed floor. Keep your head down, we'd been told, and he did the same. Only the first of many orders to come. He would not be able to see us, seated in thrones above his head. He would only know that Superior was addressing someone that someone was there. But he'd be wrong. Nobody was there.

I remembered my own ceremony well. Memories were one of the few things I had left. The ceremonies were painless, just introductions of a useless name, since you would be known as a number. But I had been struggling to hold on to the person I had been. To tell someone that the person they once were doesn't exist, that they are only part of that person, is easy. But making them believe it, that's the hardest mission to complete.

~*~

I did not die alone. Or rather, he didn't die alone. Isa was there, died there, too. All I remember of the first few moments of this life was pain.

"Okay, Lea." I thought to myself trying to focus. "What hurts?"

I worked my way through a mental checklist making sure that everything was still in working order. I could feel my feet moving and I was able to curl my legs up to my chest, sore as they were. I lifted my arms and felt my head. There were no noticeable bumps or wounds, but my head was definitely where the pain originated.

What had we been doing that would have led to this? I mean, I was a bit of a daredevil and quite frankly lacked any ability to restrain myself from a challenge, but Isa would have stopped me from doing anything too stupid, right? Wasn't that his job?

I took a second to take in my surroundings. I was in a clearing outlined by various trees and bushes. Looking over my shoulder I noticed an entry way to a dense forest. Directly across the clearing from the forest was a large brick wall with a gate in the middle. Through the bars I could make out a large house. This was defiantly not home, or anywhere near it.

I stood, or at least tried. Every muscle in my body ached in protest and it took me awhile to pull myself upright. Testing my balanced, I tentatively took a step. It was a long walk to the gate, and the slow pace I was making was testing my patience. Eventually I grabbed the cool iron of the gate and leaned against it to catch my breath.

I peered through the gates. The mansion was gigantic and well kept despite the state of the yard in front of it. I shook the gates hoping to work them open to investigate the crumbling statues in the front lawn, but the gates were sturdy and the lock I had failed to notice was equally as strong.

I reached under my scarf to find the small golden locket that I kept around my neck. The situation I was in came back to me and I realized not only did I not know where I was, or where Isa was for that matter, but my locket was missing.

I backtracked to the middle of the clearing and began to frantically brush away the blades of grass hoping to spot a glimmer of the gold.

"Is this what you are looking for?" A voice asked quietly. The volume however did not deplete the strength and regality of the speaker.

I stood brushing away dirt from my shorts. No need to make this strange think I was in a hurry. I turned to expect the man. He wore a fitted black coat with a chain hanging in front. His hood was pulled so a shadow was cast over his face despite the brightness of the setting sun. A gloved hand held out a thin golden chain with a heart shaped locket dangling at the end.

I leaned back casually, every instinct telling me something was wrong and that I should not trust this man. I smirked and placed a hand on my hip. Best to act like nothing was wrong.

"Oops. Must have dropped it. My sister would have been really upset if I didn't bring it home."

And best to lie like the professional I was.

"A heart." The stranger said pulling the locker to his shadowed face for inspection. "how fitting. You should take it back. A heart is a great thing to have. You'll want to have it."

This guy was weird. Insane even. It was just a necklace. But he was right. I did want to have it back. I took the necklace when he offered it back.

"Thanks for finding this. I need to get home." I lied deciding to head to the forest. I could at least hang out there until this guy left.

"You're different, Lea." I froze. How did he know my name?

"There's a fire in you. I could use your help."

I turned to again face the strange man. Act like nothing was wrong. Running would just make the situation worse. I raised an eyebrow to show my curiosity, but did not respond.

"I have started a group, an organization if you will, of people like you, like me. I believe we have a common goal and gaining someone like you would help bring us closer to this goal."

"Sorry, man. Your little group doesn't sound that great. I really should be heading home. I need to find my friend and get this home to my sister." I said holding up the golden locket to him.

"Isa?" The man chuckled. "He's with us. And I know you don't have a sister, Lea. You are very clever though. We really could use you in the Organization."

"How do you know about Isa?" I asked coolly.

"I already said Isa is with us." The man said placing his forehead in his hand. "Lea, I do not have time for these games. We need to get back to the castle."

"Castle? What castle? There's no way I'm following you any, man. Got it memorized? How do you know who I am anyway?"

"I know who you were. Who you are now has no name."

"What are you even talking about?" I growled losing my temper.

"Isa is dead. Lea is dead. You are not Lea. You are nothing." He said ferociously. "That is why you need us."

I stepped back, "You just said Isa was with you."

"What's left of him is, yes."

I complete lost my temper. "What did you do to Isa?" I yelled as I rushed at the man. All I knew was I wanted to hurt this man, to really hurt this guy in black. I brought back my fist, focusing everything I had on hitting this guy and connected with his jaw.

The force knocked the man down and his hood fell from his head. His orange eyes glared at me as he rubbed his jaw, yet he smiled. "Interesting, though I should have suspected."

He brushed back a strand of silver hair before standing up. Had I see his face before I hit him, I probably wouldn't have swung. Just by looking at him I knew he was immensely stronger than I was. "You have no idea what you are doing, do you? What you are able to do?"

"I'm able to beat the crap out of you." I fired back, though I truly believe the only reason I was able to land the blow was because he wanted me to hit him.

"No, look at your fist." He smiled.

Not wanting to remove my gaze from the silver-haired man least he attack back I brought my hand to my face. That my hand was still tightly gripped in a fist was not what the man had wanted me to see. No, he was pointing out the flames engulfing my fist and licking at my arms. I shook my hand, and the fire went out, my hand not suffering the slightest bit of damage from the flames.

"You need us as much as we need you, Lea." The man said. "All we want is to be complete."

"And if I say no?"

The man spread his arms. The motion caused two creatures to appear out of thin air. A blue current flashed up through the seams of their bodies as they swayed in place. He was controlling them, but I didn't know how. "You don't have a choice."

He waved his hand in front of himself and the letters of my name appeared in a scripted block.

"Lea is your others name. You are a different person." He said as the letters of my named circled in an unidentifiable blur. "You are a Nobody."

The letters halted arranged differently with an 'x' added in the middle.

Throwing out his hand, a dark portal appeared behind the silver-haired man. He turned to me with a smile. "Number VIII, Axel, welcome to Organization XIII."

* * *

I finished this just as Sanctuary started playing on my iPod. How perfect?

Anyway, there you go. Second chapter is under construction and will hopefully be up soon. This is my first story of the New Year. Let's see if I can finish it by this time next year or at least be writing it still.

Oh and shout out to Soraskey. I stole your page break design, sorry. So you get a special shout out in return!

Please please please please please please please please please provide some feedback. I'm not sure if anyone is going to be interested in this story and I really would like to see if you guys are as excited about this story as I am. Like I said previously, I tend to write more if I know people really want to see more.

Shay

P.S. Notice I said feedback. Constructive criticism is appreciated as much as reviews are.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took so long to update, but I had Writer's Block and a general nonwillingness to write any more descriptions.

So this Chapter is basically a description and a getting into the Organization. It's a pretty big one: 2444 words. I'll start with the descriptions of Nobodies and Hearts and all the good stuff next chapter, but I figured I should stop this one where it was while I was ahead. I don't have much more to say, but Thank you for your patience. I know it's been awhile since I updated, but the good news is I know where next chapter's going-kinda.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

I don't remember much about the trip to the white room. I remember stepping through the black portal and leaving the golden glow of the setting sun behind. I remember blinking a few times to adjust my eyes to the brightness of the room. I remember the way the black clothes on the white bed sheets looked like an ink stain on a piece of paper. I remember realizing we were no longer in the clearing and that there was no sun setting through the window.

The cloaked man put his hand on my shoulder to bring my attention back to him. "This is your room. Change into those clothes. Someone will be sent for you shortly."

The portal we had used to get to the room had long since vanished and he let himself out through the door. As his footsteps began to fade, I crossed to the door and locked it. There was really no use if he could use a portal to enter my room, but knowing I could control who entered through the door helped steady my nerves.

I looked around trying to figure out where I was. The room was relatively small. The only furniture was a twin sized bed that had been neatly made. Through the window, I could see stars twinkling against a black sky.

I walked to the bed and picked through the clothes. Black pants, black boots, black shirt, black gloves, and a black cloak like the man had been wearing. Yay, a uniform. I was reluctant to change clothes. I think some part of me knew that giving up the khaki shorts, yellow scarf, and orange vest that made up my favorite outfit would be giving up a piece of my past life, but I wasn't aware of it at the time. I just knew that I wanted things to remain as normal as possible, given the circumstances. But because I didn't know when someone would appear in the room, I changed quickly before carefully folding my clothes and tucking them under the mattress. I was careful to tuck the golden heart necklace under my new black shirt, though. I wasn't about to let it out of my sight.

I walked over to the window to check out the landscape. There seemed to be no clouds, but there was no moon either. Isa's favorite thing about summertime had been being able to stay up late and watch the moon. I couldn't begin to tell you the countless times we had snuck out to look at it. Radiant Gardens was a largely developed town with not a lot of parks or trees in general, so we always had to walk awhile before we got to an unpopulated place that was dark enough to see the stars, but it was worth it. Sometimes, especially during the summer, the moon was so big it seemed close enough to touch. Those were Isa's favorite nights.

I leaned a little further out the open window to see if the moon was behind me, but I couldn't see over the towering white walls. Where ever I was, it was gigantic. The outside of the building looked much like inside my room: white with blue grey veins leaving designs and patterns. I couldn't make out a roof, but I could see torrents piercing the black sky. Was this a castle?

Readjusting my hold on the windowsill I looked down towards the ground, which was a lot further down then I had been expecting. Leaning slightly back into my room, I looked down on what might have been skyscrapers, had they not seemed so small in comparison. In fact, it looked like a miniature town had been built outside the castle. I watched for signs of people, but the streets that I could see were deserted. I wanted to try and find another room to look out the window of and to see if the castle, or whatever it was, was build on a hill, but something was telling me that my new home was floating.

But just as I was about to pull my head back in the room, I noticed some movement outside the window. Closer to the walls a small path made it's was along the side of the building. It ran the length of the castle, or what I could see of it, and hugged tight to the side. But what had caught my eye was the small white creature swaying as it walked the path. Whatever the cloaked man had called earlier to help "convince" me to come was walking down the path. I shuddered thinking that that thing was running free.

Slowly, I pulled myself on to the windowsill so I could watch outside. It wasn't the most comfortable seat, but it was an interesting enough view. I watched the creature dance until it disappeared from sight and then focused my attention on the stars. They were so easy to see here against the dark sky. The looked like someone had thrown diamonds into the air. Isa always described them scientifically, but there was nothing beautiful about plasma held together by gravity. One of the more popular stories told to the children in Radiant Gardens was that when someone died, another star appeared: the deceased to watch over their living loved ones. I spent sometime trying to count them, but I forgot which ones I had already counted and got lost. So I entertained myself wondering how many stars there were.

"Eight." A deep voice called from behind me. I jumped having not heard anyone enter the room. A tall, thick man wearing a cloak was standing in the middle of my room glaring at me. He had black hair done in dreadlocks that were pulled back in a ponytail and massive sideburns. His scowl almost caused his thick black eyebrows to become one giant eyebrow. The paleness of his skin seemed an odd contrast to his hair. "Let's go."

And because of his size and intimidation factor, I walked toward him wordlessly afraid to find out what happened if I disobeyed.

He glared at me as he summoned a portal and pushed me towards it.

"Keep your head down." He advised roughly pulling the cloak's hood over my head.

I tripped as he pushed me and struggled to catch myself. Looking down, I noticed a change in the floor. I seemed to be on a platform with a design of some sort. It resembled a cross of sorts with pointed tips and a rounded bottom.

"Today is a momentous day." A voice echoed through the room. There was no one sitting around the edges of the platform, so whoever the voice was addressing was either on the platform with me, or above me. "I am pleased to announce two new comrades have been chosen to wear the coat. Number VII and Number VIII."

There was no other voice, just an uncomfortable silence. I had become aware of other person standing along with me on the platform, but was afraid of what would happen if I lifted my head to look.

"Saix's and Axel's presences will help move us forward in our ultimate goal." The voice continued. I rolled my eyes, what kind of names were Saix and Axel? And then I remembered the scripted blocks floating in front of me. I was Axel. So the other person on the platform must be Saix.

Lost in thought, I did not realize the voice had stopped talking. All the sudden a series of noises like vacuums echoed around the room. I dropped my center of gravity and my body tensed.

"It was just them leaving." A voice said quietly. I pulled my hood off wanting to see who was addressing me and he let out a slight hiss. The other person standing on the platform was wearing the assigned outfit. He had his hood left a shadow on his face, but golden eyes glared from the darkness.

"One of them will come back." He said. His voice was quiet and lacked any emotion. And I had heard it somewhere before.

But he was right. Another portal appeared, its vacuum sound resonating as it ripped at the air.

"Come on, kids. I've got things to do." A voice called from the portal. I watched my companion walk through the portal and hesitantly I followed. The instant I stepped into the portal, I stepped out into another room.

This room was also white with the blue and grey veins climbing the walls, but fan shaped leaving the largest wall to be constructed out of a window where the dark sky came pouring into the room. A few panels of glass were built into the floor by the only entrance to the room. Compared to my room, this place was a furniture store. Two groupings of couches crowded around coffee tables on opposing sides of the room.

And lounging around on the couches were people dressed in the same black cloaks.

The other new member left as soon as he appeared through the portal heading straight towards the man who had found me in the clearing.

"The kid's not even here for a day and he's already on a mission," the voice that had come through the portal said snidely. I turned to get a good look at the man. He was about the same height as me, but he looked much older. His long black hair was streaked with grey and pulled back into a ponytail. He had an eye patch over his right eye, but the other, a bright golden, stared assessing me. The jagged scar running up the left side of his face was slightly lost by his mischievous grin. "Well, kid, welcome to the party. Now, which one were you? Numero Uno didn't really do well with the who's who."

I was taken aback by his laid back nature, everyone I had meet so far had been pretty up tight. "I'm Lea, er, Axel."

"You'll get use to it," He said, commenting on my confusion, "It takes a little time to become someone other than who you were. The name's Xigbar, by the way."

At the last comment he slapped his hand on my shoulder, "So, how do you like home?"

"It's white." I said honestly. I can't say I felt comfortable with the man, but was the nicest person I had meet as of yet.

"So is the guy with the white hair in charge?" I asked pointing towards the man from the clearing that was now deep in conversation with the still hooded new member.

"Yep, that's Number One, the Superior. His name's Xemnas. He's the reason we're here. I'm Number two." He said jabbing his thumb into his chest, "Now Number three is the guy over there with the dreadlocks, Xaldin. Four is the blonde guy over at those couches. He's our scientist, Vexen. Five is the big guy over there next to him, Leaxeus. Zexion is the little guy over there with the book and, of course, you know Saix."

"That's not a very big group." I pointed out.

"We're still recruiting." He laughed.

"So," I asked, not wanting the conversation to die, "Where are we exactly?"

"This" He said gesturing grandly "Is the Castle that Never Was in The World that Never Was."

I stared at him, "Yeah, sure. Okay."

His laugh filled the room, but no one seemed to notice.

"And," I said playing along, "It's a castle floating in the sky."

"Yeah," He said seriously.

I couldn't win for losing.

"Listen, Flamesilocks, everything's not so straightforward here." He said throwing his arm around my neck, "There's a lot of stuff that you're going to have to learn, and most of it's going to be hard to take in, but you're just going to have to stick with it. Think of this as your second chance."

I sighed and nodded, as suddenly the stress from the day turned into exhaustion. But there was still one thing I need to know about.

"I need to find Isa." I said to Xigbar. He turned to me and sighed. Without a word he went to where the other new member was standing, having finished his conversation with the Superior and pulled him over to me.

"This guy," Xigbar said quietly, "was Isa."

Saix pulled his hood back to reveal blue hair spiked back at the top and falling shoulder length at the bottom. Isa's most distinguishing feature. But his eyes were wrong. Isa's eyes were green, not golden.

"He's not Isa." I said hesitantly, "You're not Isa."

"No, he's not." Xigbar said. "But he once was."

"Isa's eyes are green." I said defiantly.

"Features change when," he stopped searching for a word, "you're reborn. Like I said, Flamesilocks, they'll explain it to you later."

He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to the windowed wall. "You're different too."

And he was right. My bright red hair was longer, but styled in its customary spikes. I had also gained small upside down tear drop shaped marks under both eyes. My eyes had changed too, no longer a bright aquamarine. I put my hand to my face and traced my eyes.

"What happened to me?" I asked seeing Xigbar's reflection in the window behind me.

He did not answer, but stared understandingly at me. "Come on, you've had a long enough day. I'll show you the way back to your room so you can get some sleep."

I obeyed and allowed his hand on my shoulder to guide me through the portal and into my room.

"We'll talk in the morning, okay, Flamesilocks?"

I watched the portal close, but was too caught up in thoughts to care. There was no way that was Isa. I laid back against the white pillow with my hands folded behind my head. What exactly had happened to use to make our appearances change, even it was subtle? I closed my eyes are ran a finger over the lids. I didn't want to look at my reflection and my new eyes. And, though I fought it, sleep overtook me. The last things I remember thinking was seeing my reflection in the glass. Though it did not show color well it was obvious what color my new eyes were.

They were green: Isa's eyes.

* * *

Thank you again for your patience, and hopefully I will be able to get the next chapter up soon!

Please Review!

Sharlea


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